The Numbers

I was thinking about how collectors try to get the lowest numbers possible on any particular piece.
It dawned on me that although I have seen some pretty high numbers on some pieces, I have never seen a 5500 of 5500 or a 10000 of 10000 etc.

Has anyone ever come across one of these? Wouldn't their value be higher? After all it is the LAST one.

Prior to the sale of HL Nancy used to keep the last number of production.

You're right, JJ. I remember that, but I always wondered what number she received when the entire edition wasn't produced. You must remember the 36 month lifespan then the piece was retired.

Bob

Yes I believe the very last number of an issue should demand a higher price. This is something that I have never seen on eBay or on the forums.

Apparently since we haven’t seen any around Nancy must have kept all of her last numbers. I believe this story of Nancy collecting the last number goes back to the Rutherford days and I don’t know if Nancy kept this up after 2000. Maybe John, Paul or Dave Knows.

Bob make s good point about many of the lighthouses numbers stopping before the full production. Did Nancy take the last number of any of those? I never heard if she did. I do know that private productions pieces that are made for someone else would not be Nancy’s to pick from. So for Harbour Lights like those made for Lighthouse Depot or the Forum Exclusives the last numbers were available. Also special pieces like the Gold Golden Gate Bridge and Baileys Harbour had the last number available.

I do have the last production number for the Gold Golden Gate Bridge 250/250 and the Halfway Rock 600/1200 (600 is the last one made)

I don’t see a demand as large as a double digit but I am sure someone besides me would be interested in having something as unusual as the last production number. I feel it is a neat thing and if I have a chance for the last number I will go for it.

OK, here's another question.
I either read somewhere or someone told me that the lure of the low numbers was that the lower the number the newer the mold. That is, the mold would have little or no wear and therefore the piece would be "sharper".
Am I to believe that in an edition of say 10000 pieces, only one mold was used?

No
All Harbour Lights are of the same quality. They all are formed from Production molds which all are made thru a series of molds which comes from the same gold master.
The standard in the figurine bussines is 24 to 30 figurines for each production mold. Harbour lights standards are more stringent and they hold their number down to 12 to 16 times for each mold.
The idea of low numbers being better came from the early days of collecting lithographs. The first issued was crisp than as each issue was printed they become less crisp. Many believe that that mind set was carried over to how we collect today.
Low numbered Harbour Lights for the first 17 is sought after for the rare California version and the next 21 is sought after for the Canadian version. Generally with all Limited Editions, single digits number Harbour Lights are worth more than double, while double digits are worth more than multiple digits.

Thanks for clearing that up Daniel. I do have a couple of high numbered pieces and I could never find anything wrong with them. 12 to 16 per mold. WOW!.

This is how the molds was done 8 years ago with Harbour Lights. I imagine it is still about the same.

The highest # I have in my collection is HL146, Bolivar, TX. I have #5499/5500.

My highest is #137 St. Simons, GA flag 4181 and my lowest is #331 Fowey Rocks, FL flag 137